Bath

The Roman conquest of Britain back in the days before Christ has had quite an impact on the country. The Romans were truly 'before their time'. They believed strongly in the healing effects of spring water and a hot water spring was discovered where the city of Bath now stands. The Romans developed the spring to create what today is known as the 'Roman Baths'. It was a two hour drive from Cardiff to Bath where we would spend a couple of hours exploring the Roman baths. Two hours was not really long enough.

Though merely a shadow of their former glory, historians have created a magnificent display using remnants of the ancient baths, reconstructions (via diorama) and displays of artifacts and ruins uncovered during the restoration of the buildings. This photo to the left gives but a hint of the former glory of these buildings. Below is a photo taken from the top of the baths looking towards a cathedral just outside the surrounds of the Roman Baths. The green water indicates the amount of minerals there are in the water.


The ancient baths was a building with several large pool areas, a freezing plunge pool, sauna areas for relaxation and an intricate arrangement of aqueducts and drains to channel the hot spring water into and out of the various pools. The photo to the right shows the underfloor supports which were pumped full of heated air to create a sauna in the room above. Below is a photo of one of the drains taking water from the baths to the river outside. This drain still works perfectly today!


The two hours spent in Bath just flew! Trish took this photo of a bridge over the river. There are shops on either side of this bridge built over the water. Bath was a highlight of our visit to UK and Europe! Bath is a stop you would really need to spend two full days at rather than a couple of hours.

Our next stop was Stonehenge before we were due to arrive back in London later that afternoon.